Our anchor rehearsal on Monday is the first time that all of the on-air talent gets to go over the show script together. Even with the group having very little practice time ahead of our meetings, they typically go smoother than it went this week. For some reason, the crew was just needing some extra coaching this week to prepare for show three. We rehearsed the script three times during the Monday meeting, but there was a lot more work that needed to be done before Wednesday.
During our rehearsal, I added extra notes to my script so I could give them extra feedback when we were practicing and when we were in the studio. I also mark up certain sections of the script like a reporter would so I can demonstrate how to speak when the anchors are struggling to deliver. For example, sometimes the way Jackie paces her reads doesn’t allow for emphasis on the important words of the lead, so I will add notes to remind her ahead of time that she needs to slow down to pace those phrases out better.
We schedule an extra rehearsal with everyone on Tuesdays to get more practice in, and I really wanted to make the most of this time with them. We discussed some areas of the script that tripped them up and either worked through their delivery or changed the wording in the teleprompter. For example, James told me he was struggling to get a breath in towards the first part of his lead, so we slightly changed the sentence structure to give him a more natural pause. Another nice part about the Tuesday anchor rehearsals is that there are no professors there. It gives my classmates the opportunity to be sillier and more relaxed when they practice. I think it really helps them to just have some time with each other to be students and talk about our lives. It connects us and makes the anchors trust each other and me to create a great show. We all know we are putting our all into it and that understanding can make a huge difference when a take goes awry.
During our taping on Wednesday, we had significantly less hiccups than the previous show. I felt that they took my feedback well and implemented it into their delivery for the most part. There were times I still had to remind the anchors to slow down or enunciate more. While explaining pacing and emphasis is an important part of coaching, it is also just being supportive of the anchors. Keeping them in a positive atmosphere helps keep their energy up and deliver better. I make sure to compliment them for every success they have and use that to motivate them through more challenging parts of the script. Terrell seemed to struggle with his pacing more on his first return, so I would remind him how good his lead was and encourage him to keep the same energy and pacing for that.
As far as coaching goes, I think I still need to emphasize the distinction between reading speed and energy level. I feel that a lot of the notes I give are that a read is energetic but too fast or the right speed and not energetic enough. The on-air talent has improved a lot, but we still have two shows, and I know that while I learn more about coaching they can get even better in the studio.